Travel and tourism generates $1 billion of business per year for Stark County.

Statewide, tourism generates $40 billion annually.

Travelers are finding their way to Stark County in droves.

They come for fun, visiting the Pro Football Hall of Fame and other attractions. They come for business, including more and more people chasing Utica Shale opportunities. They come to see family and old friends.

But the droves of tourists haven't been dropping by the Tourist Information Center operated by the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The lack of visitors is why the bureau will close the office at 2618 Fulton Drive NW around the corner from the Hall of Fame.

Blame smart phones and tablets, say the folks who direct the convention bureau.

"Everything is online," said John R. Kiste, the bureau's executive director.

"The culture has changed in the way people gather information," added Ally Bussey, tourism marketing manager.

Visitors are using the technology to find points of interest, directions to the location and details such as hours and costs.

Kiste knows this because the bureau has seen a 30 percent increase in traffic to its mobile website.

And the bureau has taken other steps designed to benefit from the online trend. In August it set up an ExploreBoard at the visitor's booth in the Akron-Canton Airport. Travelers can stand at a display the size of an average flat-screen television, touch icons on the screen and gather information about hotels, restaurants and area museums and attractions.

The airport's ExploreBoard has been used more than 10,000 times since being installed in July just before this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival.

Use of the ExploreBoards has the convention bureau considering the possibility of adding three more at other locations around the county. Buying the boards would be a better use of funds than leasing office space.

Employees at the Tourist Information Center are being transferred to the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce's downtown offices, where the convention bureau is based.

The visitor's booth at the airport will remain open. In addition to the "explorer board," the booth has racks displaying brochures, booklets and pamphlets with information about the area and its attractions. An added bonus is that someone is working at the booth throughout the day.

The booth is a collaboration between the airport, Stark's convention bureau and the Akron Summit County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"We love that this is a regional solution," said Kristie Van Auken, the airport's senior vice president and communications officer.